


The path of the Wolf

by Elverith



Category: Eddsworld - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dungeons & Dragons, Alternate Universe - Vikings, Fantasy, Gen, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:40:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23951686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elverith/pseuds/Elverith
Summary: This is a fantasy au for eddsworld that is barely based off of anything at all. I have a character for DnD based on Tord and this is his backstory for the game. It is a made up fantasy world that he is a part of and struggling to survive in. He meets people who help him along the way and he meets even more people who want him to suffer. It starts with him around age 10 and progresses from there forward. mainly focusing on significant moments in his life.





	The path of the Wolf

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! again, this is barely based off of the actual content of Eddsworld, I am writing this to figure out backstory for this fantasy au Tord or Todrick in this universe. other characters will show up but it's mainly OC's in his backstory

Todrick had sensed the tension the moment he stepped into the hall that cold winter morning. There had been a lot happening on what would usually be a quiet day. He’d heard some of the servants whispering and seen them point at him and a few of the mercenaries scowl in his direction. The stone floors felt colder that morning as a growing sense of dread made his limbs grow heavy, something was wrong with him and now one was telling him what it was. He decided to hide away in hopes that maybe...just maybe he was imagining it and when he came back it would all be over and everything would be back to normal.

He grabbed his coat and ran outside into the winter morning, a few inches of snow had fallen over night and he left a trail of small footprints leading to the mercenary guild hall, the second largest building in the village, and snuck in the back. He paused to gently scratch one of the dogs behind the ears, one of his father’s hunting dogs, the animals were notorious for being able to track their prey through the worst storms across hundreds of miles.

“Oi! Brat! You'll make Arild lose his bite if you keep treating him like that.” One of the older Mercenaries, a man named Bjorn who had lived in the village for as long as Todrick could remember. “Your father wouldn’t like to lose his best hunter because of you.” he smiled as he said it, though, and ruffled Todrick’s sandy brown hair.

“He hates to lose anything.” he shrugged off the comment about his father, “A dog will always be more loyal if it’s loved. I think Arild agrees.” He looked down at the dog with a slight smile on his serious face. “Is there something happening?” He changed the subject quickly as he stepped inside the hall into the warm fire-lit space. 

“Happening?” Bjorn followed him inside, frowning, “nothing I’ve heard. But the air is tense today. I expect it’s just a big job brewing…”

Todrick nodded and moved into the main room. The floorboards creaked under his feet and the smell of mead and fire hit his face, the thick smoky air almost choking him after the cold morning outside. The room was mostly empty except for a few early risers seated around. 

The guild, the Iron Valkyries, was larger than it seemed, attracting the violent and the ruthless with a life of money for their preferred skill: killing. There was a mixture of humans and orcs milling around in the hall, some dragonborn, and a dwarf or two. All of them scarred from past fights and strong from countless victories. The hall was the central meeting place for the guild, though rarely was the entire guild ever present. The village of Fjol was too far north for most to get to on short notice and those that chose to live in the village did work around the area. The non guild members that lived there usually never left, to face the cold wilderness untrained was almost certain death.

“You know he doesn’t like it when you’re here alone.” Bjorn continued to follow the kid around. 

“I’m joining as soon as I’m old enough, it’s not like he can tell me NOT to be here.” he glanced over his shoulder at the old man behind him, “Besides, it’s better here than it is up there in that awful hall...people keep looking at me and not saying anything. Bjorn… I might be young but I’m not stupid.” his piercing gray eyes flashed in the firelight, “something isn’t right and it involves me, but I don’t know what I did.”

“You're not young! You're a child!” Bjorn laughed at how serious the kid looked, “don’t look for fights that aren’t there. If it actually is you then you’ll know for certain and not guess.” he put a hand on Todrick’s shoulder, “Besides, it’s far too--”

His voice was cut off by the shrill scream of a woman from outside, “what the bloody hell…” Bjorn frowned. 

The whole room paused, then were suddenly jumping up, weapons drawn and running to the doors. Todrick ran with them, curious but with fear growing in his chest. This had to be it… this had to mean something… He shoved his way through to the front to see a woman getting dragged through the street by her hair. 

A large muscular man that Todrick didn’t recognize was pulling her along and it was clear she’d tried to put up a fight. The village watched in silence, the scene playing out before them. As they passed Where Todrick stood, the woman’s eyes locked onto his, the piercing blue full of fear and dread as she was pulled past. “Run….” she whispered it between shrieks, “run before--!”

The next moment happened in a blur. The man turned and looked at Todrick, an awful smirk crawling across his face, then another figure appeared out of nowhere and roughly grabbed Todrick from behind, “get a move on, _ bastard _ .” 

It was the first time he heard those words, the ones that would burn into his heart and fuel him for years to come. He struggled against the grip of the thick muscular arms, reaching for anything or anyone to help, but the village didn’t move. Some people went back inside, some watched on in silence, and a few smiled. 

They reached the great hall and the doors were thrown open, the screaming echoed off of the wooden walls and the stone floors as the woman was dragged forward and thrown down in front of a tall widely built man covered in furs and leather armor. He scowled down at her and kicked her in the side. “Shut up. Screaming like a coward doesn’t become you...witch.”

Todrick was dropped a few moments later and he looked at the man in confusion, “father…?! What’s going on???” His words were greeted by a hard slap to the face. His cheek stung and he stood there frozen for a moment, unsure of what to do.

The man, Lars Hagen, the leader of the Iron Valkyries stood tall in front of the two then looked around the room at the people who had gathered there, mainly mercenaries but some of the townsfolk. “This woman… this bitch….Has lied to you all.” He stopped in front of her and looked down, “a woman who deceived me. And forced me into disloyalty.”

There was a murmur that started in the crowd that had gathered to watch. Then a voice yelled from somewhere in the room, “He looks just like her!! You thought we wouldn’t notice!?” This started a round of yells from the people.

“She cursed the child out of spite!!” Lars’s voice boomed through the hall, silencing everyone. “A mistake is a mistake. One where the consequences will be met. But that wasn’t enough for her. She took that mistake and twisted it! She would see my undoing at her own hands by taking away the one child I have!!!!” There was more silence as he looked over at Todrick, “The one i raised as my son….loved….welcomed into my home… now a blight, a mark, A STAIN!!!” The room hesitated before nodding in agreement, “she stole my heir. An innocent child…”

He paused to look at Todrick, the disdain was clear in his eyes as he reached forward and grabbed him by the neck and pulled him closer, squeezing slightly, “I have no heir now.” Their gray eyes met, Lars’s full of anger as he looked into the tearful and terrified eyes of the child he had used to consider his own. 

“Father please….” there was a warning squeeze that cut his voice off. 

“Lerkson, Erikson. Hold onto him.” Lars tossed Todrick easily to the two men who had dragged them up to the hall initially. Then he refocused on the woman in front of him. She had moved onto her knees, staring at the stone floor and at his boots. “As for you…”

“Liar.” she spoke at the boots, her voice hoarse from the yelling, “I did nothing and you know it!!!” Then she looked up defiantly, “I didn’t curse him!! You speak and preach about a loyalty you can’t even keep! Loyalty to the one you love? Loyalty to family? Who are you to speak of bonds when you break them without a thought!” She glared up now, her beaten face visible clearly for the first time, “YOU STOLE MY SON FROM ME!!! And when you couldn’t hide it anymore you tossed him away…”

Lars looked down at her, he let her speak. No one would believe her words against his anyways. “Will your stream of lies never end?” he shook his head, “you have gone against Fjol by seducing me, selfishly for your own gain. Cursed me to never produce a child again. And worse, to force yourself into a family you cursed a child to bear your appearance. You thought this would hold you a place? A better station? A better life?!” he snorted, “you have only ruined your own.”

Todrick watched on, confused as the two mercenaries held his arms and covered his mouth to keep him quiet as his father spoke. He still wasn’t sure what was going on, it was happening so quickly. What had started all of this!? Who was she!? And why did they look so… similar.

The hall was filled with yells and hollers before Lars held up one hand to silence the crowd. “Did you really think that I’d be bested by you? A WOMAN? And by something like a child?” he laughed, “no one defies me. No one will ever force my hand. Bring her to the center of the village. And the bastard. Let him see what his mother gets for her bold treason.”

One of the hands holding him slipped and he shook his head free, “mother….? That's not…!” he was pushed along after her as the crowd moved to the center of the village where a tree stump, stained red from years of bloody executions, waited. He’d seen it used before countless times. Prisoners, thieves, captives, even enemies had all met their gory ends at the stump. 

He watched in horror as the woman was secured down, lying on her stomach across it. She kept looking at him, staring wordlessly as people moved around her, preparing for her death. He could feel fear and panic rising. What had she done!? Why was she important!? 

While the two watching him were distracted he managed to wrench himself free and run forward. He couldn't explain it but there was a feeling inside of him, something pulling him towards her. He fell to the ground to look her in the eyes again, this time her blue eyes shined sadly. 

“I’m sorry… my child…” her voice was strained and she swallowed back a lump in her throat, “You were never supposed to know...it’s my fault…”

Todrick frowned as he looked at her, “how? Tell me…!” There was a yell behind him as Lerkson and Erikson rushed forward to pull him away.

“I’ll protect you--!” She tried to reach for him as he was once again dragged back. “I promise!”

“Protect me from what!?!?” He struggled harder.

She never spoke again. She screamed in pain. She screamed as the sharpened blade of an axe slid down her spine. It got louder and more shrill as the blade worked, separating her bones and blood pouring off her shoulders and down her sides. The cries pierced the cold air, covering the entire village in a blanket of anguish and pain. The smell of viscera followed as her lungs were lifted out. She kept looking at Todrick as blood poured out of her mouth and onto the ground. 

Todrick watched in horror. It wasn’t a new sight, in this village he had grown accustomed to the violence and death and the stories of the mercenaries. But her eyes… her staring at him.. Her final words she’d whispered to him. He tried to look away, not being able to stomach the image. 

Lerkson and Erikson held him tightly, holding his head forward. “Look at her now you little bastard. That’s your fate too.” Lerkson was grinning stupidly, watching the scene with excitement burning in his eyes. “Tch. entitled little prick. Your father is done with you and there’s no reason to keep you around anymore!” his grip tightened as the grin on his face spread watching more and more blood pour onto the snowy ground. 

“Let go!!” Todrick twisted against the grip, “you don’t know shit! You're not even part of the guild, don’t act like you know my father!!!” His voice broke through the silence and across the clearing Lars was glaring over at him, his scowl deepening by the second. He leaned over to Bjorn next to him and said something that was impossible to hear. “He wouldn’t kill me…” but he was even starting to doubt that now as the woman on the stump stopped moving and her voice had gone silent.

Erikson reached over and grabbed Todrick’s face, squeezing it menacingly. “you don’t have a father anymore. And that means we can kill you just like that bitch and no one will care. No one will ever care what happens to--”

He was cut short as Bjorn appeared next to them. “Back off. He’s not dying.” he looked down at the kid sadly, “he’s coming with me.”

Todrick looked over, his eyes wide and his hands were shaking. It’s not like his father had been anything close to him. They’d merely lived in the same house. But he had never seen rage like this directed at him before. “W-where….” 

“The guild hall.” he said it gruffly and took one of Todrick’s arms, pulling him along away from the crowd. He didn’t elaborate or look at him again.

The ground moved quickly under his boots and he tripped a few times trying to keep up with Bjorn’s stride. “What’s going to happen to me… am i going to die….!? Please, i don’t…..i don’t know what’s going on!”

They stepped into the hall and Bjorn continued to pull him into the large open space in the middle where the fire burned. He finally stopped and his shoulders slumped. “I know you dont…” he closed his eyes, “he wants you here. I don’t know why. By all rights you should just be banished and left to the wild. That would be a far kinder fate than anything he is thinking of.” 

He nodded over to the far wall at the front of the room. There was an elevated platform where his father sat during guild meetings, where new members were ceremoniously given their marks for the guild, and where prisoners were kept after a raid. “Up there.” he led the way over.

Todrick followed in silence, “what are they going to do….” he reached the platform and stood next to Bjorn.

“Up you go.” he lifted the kid onto the platform, when he was standing on it they could see eye to eye. “Look, i'm going to talk to you like a man now, because from here forward that's what you are.” he went over to a wall of weapons and supplies and took down some rope, “No one cares how many years you’ve been alive. No one cares who your father was. You know more than anyone how loyal this guild is to that man and they will do anything to please him.” When he was standing in front of Todrick again he motioned for him to hold out his hands. “He wants you here. He wants you to not be able to run.” He slowly started to tie the small wrists together, they were so small, just a child’s hands. “Your mother… she made a mistake. She thought she could improve herself if she agreed to have you. His wife is barren, but the bonds of loyalty he speaks and the rules of the guild prevent him from other means of obtaining an heir. It has to be his by blood. Blood, you will find out, is important to people who kill and murder for a living.” he finished tying the hands together and tied the other end othe rop to a small ring in the middle of the floor. “She threatened to tell everyone where you came from. Turns out she didn’t have to.” he pointed at the curling wavy cowlicks in Tord’s hair, “those did more talking than she could have. Hagen… he thought she cursed you so the world would find out. He had no choice.”

“Bjorn… why not just kill me… if i’m… what he says… then he should. Why would he bother to keep--” 

The door to the guild hall burst open and the mercenaries started to flood in, all energized at the smell of blood and rowdy as usual. The first one in the door was Lars who went straight up to the platform. He sat down on a wooden chair covered in furs, “Bjorn! These mercenaries are thirsty. Get busy!”

“Of course, Lars.” he nodded and left, going to the back of the room to help serve drinks. He cast a few worried glances over where he’d left Todrick but not for very long for fear of being noticed.

Lars looked over at the child, his nose wrinkled in disgust as his eyes went from Todrick’s face, to his bound hands, following the rope along the ground to the loop. “Bjorn is losing his touch, come here.” he waved Todrick forward.

There was a moment of hesitation before he moved towards the chair, “you hate me now…” he could still feel the red mark on his face from getting hit earlier. 

“Yes.” Once Todrick was in arm’s reach he pulled him forward and started to adjust how the ropes were tied, “my son is dead.” his hands worked quickly until the wrists were re-tied but this time also looped around his neck as well, “do not speak unless you're spoken to and even then, think twice about how important what you're saying is. Silence is expected.” then he grabbed the rope around his neck and pulled it down sharply so Todrick stumbled forward onto his knees, “you kneel until I tell you to stop.”

“Yes fath--”

There was another slap. “Do not call me that ever again. And be silent.”

Todrick was too scared to move. The rope around his neck threatened to keep him from breathing. He was too scared to open his mouth. And now next to his father, no… not his father...next to the man who killed his mother. As he knelt on the platform his chest was a swirling mass of panic and anger. What had he done… did he deserve this??? Had his mother deserved what happened? These thoughts consumed him as the day wore on and the ropes cut in sharply. Did he deserve any of this?


End file.
